


The Salvage Yard Santas

by vanillafluffy



Category: The Three Investigators | Die drei ??? - Various Authors, The Trixie Belden Mysteries - Julie Campbell Tatham & Kathryn Kenny
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Spirit, Fundraisers, Gen, Horses, Scathingly brilliant ideas, all for a good cause
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 01:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17091527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanillafluffy/pseuds/vanillafluffy
Summary: Leave it to Trixie to turn surplus paint and truckloads of second-hand furniture into Christmas joy for a lot of deserving kids.





	The Salvage Yard Santas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Brumeier](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/gifts).



“Honestly, there’s enough paint here to paint the entire playhouse, let alone a few backdrops!” Mathilda Jones looks around the shipping container in exasperation. “I love Titus to death, but I do wish he’d develop some discernment when it comes to the volume of things he acquires.”

“I think it’s symptomatic of a hoarding disorder,” his nephew says glumly. “He honestly believes that everything needs to be ‘rescued’ and reused. I’m all for recycling, but there are limits.”

This isn’t the first time her employees have been on the receiving end of this plaint. The Jones Salvage Yard is bursting at the seams because Titus Jones can’t resist a bargain. Trixie Belden nods. “A lot of these cans are half-empty,” she agrees. “Who the heck wants half a can of olive drab paint?”

“I can use that.” Aunt Mathilda takes the offending can and sets it by the door. "It’s neutral, it’ll do for backgrounds, maybe. I can always thin it with off-white, there’s certainly enough of that."

It’s early November, and the three are going through the trailer that houses leftover paint. Every year, Aunt Mathilda is in charge painting scenery for the Rocky Beach Holiday Pageant, and she prides herself on creating a new look every year. (“Like the Oscars, you know,” she confides.”They don’t do the same tatty old thing every year--why should I?”) 

“I have four more cans of green,” Jupe reports. “Dark green, medium sage, mint green and another whole can of olive.”

“There’s a bunch of blues over here, I think somebody who was in here sorted them by color while they were looking for something.”

“That’s helpful.” Aunt Mathilda sighs. “Where has this year gone? I can’t believe it’s November already! There’s so much to do--and you know how busy we’re about to get. Why in the world does everyone in Southern California decide to get all-new furniture in November? They give us their old stuff, and while it’s usually very nice, we have enough to do without trying to shoehorn it all in here!”

“I have some ideas for our float in the parade,” Jupe assures her. “That’s one thing you won’t have to worry about. You can concentrate on the pageant. And we’ll manage the furniture--we always do.”

“It’s not just that. We need more items for the raffle at the craft fair,” his aunt frets. “And I hope we get a better response for the toy drive this year. We ran out of wrapped presents early on and ended up giving out fast food gift cards, it was terribly embarrassing.”

“I’ll contribute a couple gift baskets of marmalade to the raffle,” offers Trixie. “And I can probably get signed photos from the guys at _Fame and Fortune_. And I’ll bet between the two of us, we can get Jean-Francois to put up a voucher for a nice dinner for two.”

“Wonderful! What about your brother--do you think he’d donate some produce or a fruit basket?”

“Probably. Especially if I talk to Ben about it ahead of time--he’s appointed himself hear of marketing, you know--if it helps get the Belden Farms brand out there, I’m sure he’ll persuade Mart.” She brightens. “And I’ll drop by Bekah’s--maybe she’ll offer some salon services.”

“Lovely. I’m going to take these over to the playhouse.” Mathilda begins loading the cans she’s going to use into the back of her battered mini-van. “When you’re through in here, can you round up some of those blasted buckets? The winds have them scattered all over the yard.”

Later, while they’re rounding up the stray five-gallon buckets strewn about the property, Jupiter sighs. “I’m not looking forward to the rush either,” he admits. “This time every year, it seems like all I do is move furniture. Everybody wants to give their place a makeover because they have relatives coming for the holidays, instead of being happy with what they have.”

Trixie stops. Stares at the bucket for a long minute, then looks up, a broad grin on her face. “I think I’ve got it,” she says. 

It’s a genius idea, Jupe has to admit when she tells him, and it may actually work. He shares it with Aunt Mathilda, who claps her hands and agrees enthusiastically. Hans and Konrad are let in on the plan, but Titus Jones is carefully kept out of the loop. Mathilda arranges for him to be invited to an out-of-town auction by an old crony of his, because she suspects he’d be a lot less open to the idea than they are. 

Ten days later, Jones Salvage Yard holds a 40% off sale on all furniture. Furthermore, donations of an unwrapped toy will earn the donor a free five-gallon bucket of paint. Working in thirty-gallon batches, Jupiter and the brothers have consolidated all the paint in the trailer into off-white (most of it), blue-grey, green and latte-tan. Every bucket littering the yard has been scrubbed clean and filled, while the old, empty paint cans were discretely hauled away to the town dump. 

Mathilda is ecstatic.

Trixie has reasoned that if people are sprucing up their homes, a fresh coat of paint might be in the works, and who doesn’t like free stuff? If nothing else, at least the paint trailer will have a lot more room in it without dozens upon dozens of partial cans and buckets of paint. 

Supporters of the playhouse market refreshments to benefit the toy drive. Business is brisk, and their tip jar is filling rapidly. The theater guild has turned out in force, dropping off baked goods for sale and staying to browse. The craft fair organizers are selling advance raffle tickets, and the prizes include something for everyone, including marmalade gift baskets, a free month of produce delivered by Belden Farms, signed photos and props from the daytime drama _Fame and Fortune_ , a voucher for an updo at Crowning Glory, as well as dinner for two at the Rosedrop Cafe.

Swags of tinsel garlands and twinkle lights are wrapped around the light poles. Jupe’s holiday playlist, broadcast over the yard’s speakers, puts shoppers in a festive mood. A big sign invites browsers to the White Elephant Bazaar (that should make for some interesting Secret Santa gifts, the conspirators agree). Trixie busily accepts new toys in exchange for buckets of paint--it’s going fast. 

Jupiter, Konrad and Hans work non-stop shifting furniture and loading it into customers’ vehicles. Although delivery comes at a premium, Jupe has a sign posted letting everyone know that for the duration of this sale, all delivery fees are being donated to the toy drive. 

There’s a steady flow of customers, most of them spending money. Trixie’s brother and brother-in-law show up. Mart buys every jelly donut on the bakery table, while Ben invests in a retro patio set. They load their own purchases, for which the hard-working salvage employees are grateful.

At the end of the day, even Trixie is surprised by how well they’ve done. Every single bucket of paint has been given away! In fact, there are more toys than than they’d had paint--people who heard about the drive donated toys and declined the free gift. Between the bake sale and the delivery charges, they’ve cleared over $600 _and_ they have all the toys from the paint exchange.

Aunt Mathilda is relieved; between that and the upcoming craft fair, they should be able to provide a very happy holiday for the less fortunate children of Rocky Beach without resorting to junk food coupons! Not only that, but the 40% off sale opened up a lot of room in the furniture department. 

“We should do this every year,” she muses. “Because I know Titus--if there’s empty space, he’s going to fill it right back up.”

She’s right; Titus Jones returns from his expedition with his pick-up truck overflowing with new acquisitions. His first words to Mathilda after he kisses her are, “How did the sale go?”

Jupiter and Trixie exchange startled glances. 

“You knew?” they chorus.

Uncle Titus laughs. “Are you kidding? My family’s lived in this town for 80 years, you think I don’t know what’s going on? I just didn’t say anything so I wouldn’t get roped into doing anything. So, did we turn over some inventory?”

“We certainly did,” Mathilda tells him with satisfaction. “I think this may end up being an annual tradition.”

“Great. Glad to hear it, since I got Trixie a little Christmas bonus on the strength of her brilliant idea.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to--”

“Of course, you’ll have to help me unload the truck to get at it.”

Eventually--because it was apparently the first thing loaded into the vehicle--a huge cardboard carton is excavated and Uncle Titus beams as Trixie gingerly pries up one of the flaps.

“A rug?” she asks, blinking at the striped mass of woven matting.

“Keep going!”

Pulling it out of the box, Trixie discovers it’s actually a saddle blanket, and under it is a saddle. Not just any saddle, either. She gapes, then hauls it out for a better look.

“Good grief,” Jupe says when the light hits it. “How many singing cowboys did you have to mug for that thing?”

Trixie just stares. Her battered old McClellan saddle is perfectly serviceable for everyday riding, but _this_ is parade-worthy. She’s wistfully admired fancy saddles at shows--and this one has it all. It’s black leather with cascades of bold red stars. There are enough tarnished silver accents to be blinding at high noon if they were properly cared for.

“Well? What do you think?” Titus grins.

She throws her arms around his neck. “Oh my gosh, it’s fantastic! Thank you so much!” 

“Good thing you’ve got a couple weeks before the parade.” Jupe, who doesn’t share Trixie’s enthusiasm for all thing equine looks dubiously at her prize. “It’ll take you that long to get all that bling polished.”

Trixie laughs joyfully. “But think of how gorgeous Cecil’s going to look wearing it! He’ll be the handsomest horse in the whole parade!”

Titus and Mathilda chuckle at the expression on their nephew’s face. Jupe definitely doesn’t care to hear how handsome she thinks someone else is--even a horse!

By the time parade day rolls around, the saddle has been lovingly restored, and so has its bridle (originally buried under everything else in the carton). The old blanket has been thoroughly washed, and all tacked up, Trixie's gruella looks very classy indeed.

Trixie has invested in some new finery of her own, not wanting to look shabby in comparison to Cecil and his opulent equipage. Jupe whistles in admiration at the sight of her in a bright red Western shirt, black gaucho pants and a pair of sassy red boots. He makes a note to find her a belt with a buckle the size of a hubcap--it’s the final detail her outfit needs.

The float for the Yard is Jupe’s most ambitious efforts yet--he’s taken bits and pieces of junk and contrapted a facsimile of an old-fashioned pick-up truck, then painstakingly engineered its overloaded cargo to look like a something out of “The Grapes of Wrath”. Signage extols the variety of bargains to be had and that “You don’t have to be rich to shop at Jones Salvage Yard!” Jupe privately refers to it as “Jones, not Joads”.

It’s being pulled by the Yard’s work truck, being driven by Hans. Mathilda and Titus are riding in the back with a laundry basket full of candy to throw to the kids. Jupe sits on the “tailgate” of the truck on the float, wearing a Santa costume and tossing key-chains to the adults in the crowd.

Trixie rides up alongside the float, looking relaxed and happy. “Isn’t this fun?” she calls to him.

“So far, so good. How’s the saddle working out?”

“It’s pretty comfortable. Cecil doesn’t seem to mind it, although it’s a bit heavier than our other one. And so far, I’ve told about fifty people that I got it at Jones Salvage Yard.”

Jupe lobs another key-chain. “Great. Next year, we’ll put advertising on you, too.”

…

**Author's Note:**

> While she was shopping for her new clothes, Trixie almost bought a bridle with a unicorn horn attached. She decided it was cute, but not really practical for that kind of money.
> 
> Ben gave her the snazzy red boots as an early Christmas gift. Mart chipped in.
> 
> It would have been much too far to ride Cecil from the farm to Rocky Beach, so Trixie reached out to Jeremy Coltrane ("The Man in the Cowboy Hat"), who trailered them over. 
> 
> Jupiter found a silversmith to make a custom buckle, which he gave to Trixie for Valentine's Day.
> 
> Aunt Mathilda's backdrops for the Holiday Pageant drew so many compliments that the Playhouse made prints of them available the following year as holiday greeting cards.
> 
> Uncle Titus continues to shop for bargains.  
> .


End file.
